United States Steel (NYSE:X) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

United States Steel (NYSE:X) updated its first quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of (0.53)-($0.49) for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of ($0.32).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

X has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of United States Steel from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on United States Steel in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on United States Steel from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.70.

United States Steel Stock Performance

NYSE X traded down $0.55 during trading on Thursday, hitting $41.07. 6,123,538 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,926,034. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.58 and a 200-day moving average of $36.72. United States Steel has a 12-month low of $26.92 and a 12-month high of $43.35.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.38). United States Steel had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 2.46%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United States Steel will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

About United States Steel

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.